I admitted in my previous post that I’ve spent plenty of time on my computer lately but done little that could be deemed productive. The truth is, I enjoy Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series. I’m not smitten with her perfect vampire the way many are. I mean I like Edward and all but he doesn’t dazzle me. The story however does and I’ve enjoyed reading her first three books more than once (the first even more!) which makes me somewhat of an addict. I was so disappointed with her last book in the series that I began searching for a place to talk about it. I’m not sure if I was just trying to restore my original love of her series, work out my disappointment or just rub keyboards with a few others who could relate to the addiction, but I found a site that I’ve spent FAR too much time on lately. It’s the Twilighter’s Anonymous forum. I’ve found myself talking out the story, debating points, discussing characters, chatting with other fans and even making icons like this:

Banner ads and warning images like this:

I can’t help myself. My new Mac is so cool and has so many cool tools. Besides, on that site I can share fun images that I can’t here for ads and revenue generating copyright issues. It’s fun to explore this teeny bopper world with other lurking Twilight moms!

So now you know how I’ve been keeping my mind off of being under the weather….sad hugh? *giggle, giggle, snort*

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Sharing Blogging Reading

I don’t know why, but Tuesdays and Thursdays tend to be the hardest days of the week for me. Mondays are hectic, but it’s expected so I never pay it much mind. Wednesday gives me refueling knowing it’s mid-week and Friday of course stands alone as the day that signifies the end…relief! But these other two days hit a lull for me that’s hard to pinpoint.

This morning I decided to figure out what my “toughies” are today. First I noticed my tile floor…yipes. My steamer may run away with how much is waiting there to be cleaned up! It occurred to me this morning how odd it is that when we moved into this home I would faithfully steam my floors every single week - when they needed it the very least! *giggle* I’m not sure how much of that was ease because there was so little to do and how much of it was the new bug, but it’s funny to me that I was so faithful with deep cleaning when it was least required. It made me think that I often make things harder simply by putting them off. It’s why I feel such relief when I get it done! My yard is screaming for attention and the weather is just starting to turn so I’ll be able to give it some of that much needed time and energy. But as I looked out my (dirty) kitchen window this morning, again I saw how much harder jobs are when I let them build through neglect. I know in theory and practice that maintenance is always easier than an overhaul, but for some reason bridging that gap with simple household chores is a real challenge!

I’m going to pull the ’sick’ card because I don’t get to very often and because it makes me feel better today. I’m still a little under the weather but mostly feel it only in my productivity department. It’s amazing how such simple things can put my world on tilt. Last week at this time I was feeling dumpy with a cold and thinking how I couldn’t wait to start a fresh new week. Today I’m in the same rut with a different kind of bug but a bug none the less. I need a health bug exterminator! *giggle* I keep telling myself if I ignore the silly bugs and pretend they don’t exist, maybe they’ll go away on their own! At any rate, I know more has slipped in the past couple weeks and is more visible simply because I haven’t felt up to doing things. This is another testament to the reality that maintenance is worth its weight in gold!

So today’s toughies for me are to get something more productive done at my computer. I’ve spent plenty of time here the past couple weeks but what’s gotten done doesn’t fit in the productivity bucket! I also hope to find my steamer and clean my very dirty floor and windows. I’m not sure how much tackle is in me this Tuesday, but by sharing it here I feel like be committing myself a bit to it! Maybe that will help. *wink*

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Homemaker Organizing Housework Balance

I was just at my car loading groceries this morning when a car pulled up behind me. The man driving was apologetic for disturbing my morning but was in need of help paying his power bill as his payday wasn’t until the 8th. He held out his power ‘pay in advance’ card for me to see but it wasn’t necessary. I could hear the desperation in his voice and see it in his eyes as he described his power being turned off that morning. Visions from the movie “The Pursuit of Happyness” flooded my mind. I could see a small family at home with no A/C, no lights and no refrigerator. I told him I rarely carried cash but he was welcome to whatever I may have. I was so grateful to have something in my wallet. It was less than $10.00 but it was something; his gratitude was overwhelming. I just wished it could have been more. I wished him the best and he drove away.

I spent the drive home thinking about all the people who struggle to make ends meet every day. Those that fall short on funds to pay a power bill by three or four days before pay day. I thought about how fun it would be to call up the power company, tell them to pick five residential customers who were in line for getting their power cut and anonymously filling their account for another month. I thought of the concept of random acts of kindness and how important they are. I even thought about starting a blog or other publication about it - something that shared little acts of kindness shown around the world. It seems like the news is so full of all the terrible things that it’s no wonder so many are guarded with more than their wallets these days.

There are many who would call me a fool. A fool for sharing my substance with one who asked. After all, how can you ever be really sure they are honest or aren’t going to misuse your generosity? To those, I simply say so what if they do. They have a need, I have the ability to give them something. Who am I to judge the validity of a hand asking for help? I know what it’s like to go through hard times, to pray for a break. In short, a simple helping hand once and a while. Today I am thinking I need to stash a $50 bill in my car or wallet just for such occasions. I was actually kicking myself as I began driving home that I didn’t march the gentleman back inside the store to the bank inside and help him put at least a couple week’s worth of power on his card. Next time, I’ll be better prepared.

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Sharing Emotions Positive Impact Inspiration Perspectives Success Blogging

Last week was nearly a bust with me catching a cold. But I did get another photo day in there, just didn’t get around to posting it, so I’ll share today’s work with last week’s day eight.

Project stats: 975 photos, day 9 is my highest day for total scans at one time coming in at 187. All remaining photos not yet in albums to be scanned are now in two folder in front of my one drawer. This is HUGE progress as I began with two drawers!

My control sheet is moving into spreadsheet form. It’s interesting to note how much I scan on specific days, as well as seeing about how many photos I have accumulated thus far for each year. This will be even more interesting when I hit phase two of this project which is getting all the new digital photos in paper backup. I wonder if I took more pictures once I went digital or if I’ve always kept about the same pace over the years?

At any rate, I wanted to share that today I am struck again by how quickly time passes. I’ve been scanning a lot of baby photos of my little guy. Something I’m especially grateful for given that his birth grandmother was able to sit with me Sunday night and it was so easy to share these! As I scanned photos today I saw glimpses into the not so distant future of a teenage daughter and son. How grateful I am for the time we have had to enjoy them and the time we have yet!

In honor of capturing some big growth insights, I’m sharing these two pictures for today’s project picks:

Both pictures are from just 4 years ago in 2004, which doesn’t seem so long ago but compared to how they look today it’s a lot! In 4 more years I’ll have two kids in double digits age wise! That hardly seems possible, but there it is.

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Family Sharing Organizing Positive Impact Potential Inspiration Perspectives Motherhood Memories